Dr Heath smith has been helpful as well as all staff members. This is my second Bariatric surgery due to complications so I was rather picky when searching for a new surgeon. I feel that I am in safe hands. The team seems eager to help in any way possible. read more

I just started this journey and so far the office staff at every location sucks! Please replace your people.

Knowledgeable doctors in Gastric Bypass, Lap-Band Surgery and Gastric Sleeve. Their Lap-Band Wagon is great too!

I just want to share my experience with anyone whose looking to have bariatric surgery. At a glance this place seems great but it's all a show to get more patients. When you start off, you are herded in and out like cattle. Everything is very rushed and they expect you to know everything by giving you a PowerPoint presentation to read before. No time for questions. Which is fine I am educated in the medical field so I am aware of things a lay person would not know. The consultation is 100$ which is high in my opinion. Surgery went fine, no issues. Make sure you tell them before you have surgery that you don't want the OPTIONAL biopsy of your stomach lining to check for H. pylori which is a bacteria in your gut, or else you'll be hit with a sneaky 300+ lab fee after your surgery. What they do wrong, there is no pain control after surgery. They give you toradol. Which is an IV anti inflammatory. It works, to an extent. If you are hurting bad they will give you liquid hydrocodone.... well guess what you can't hardly drink ANYTHING right after surgery so it was pointless. They will not give you iv pain medication even though they cut your stomach out of you. To go home with they give you tramadol.... which also helps to an extent. Let me remind you that you have part of your organ cut out and 5-6 incisions. To give tramadol is like putting a bandaid on a shark bite. They are so scared about the opioid crisis that they won't give you proper pain medication to those who actually need it. They also give you zofran for nausea which works fine but they give you a very limited amount. So here I am, my surgery was on 6/12. I have 3 zofran pills left. I am nauseated everyday. I called and begged for a refill on the nausea medicine, which is NOT a controlled substance and has ZERO long term side effects. They tell me no, and have no reason. "We don't give refills". I wish I would have went somewhere else for my surgery. This place is terrible and doesn't care about you once they get your money. If you're going to get the surgery do extensive research on the place before doing it. Most of the reviews on here are older and the doctors have changed. I highly recommend you go somewhere else, somewhere that will care about you after the surgery because this place DOES NOT. If you just want the surgery and don't care about the after care or pain control during the immediate post op period then this place will be fine. Surgery itself went fine. read more

I signed up to have the gastric sleeve procedure. I had two appointments for the same day at the Decatur location (one at the office 3:15 pm and one at the hospital for 10:30 am in the same complex). I told the receptionist is there any way to move up my appointment at the office as the one with them was in 4 hours. I was told oh that was the scheduler that did that and the doctor was in surgery (needed to wait for him to be finished with that). I live over 80 miles away so it would not make much senses to return home and come back through all of that Ft Worth traffic. I asked to speak to the office manager, they said well did you ask the scheduler about that when the appointment was set up. This was sent to me in an email. I thought the hospital appointment took that long, so I did not question it before hand. I have been on a protein shake diet followed by a clear liquid diet for 2 weeks. Hanging out was not my idea of a nice way to spend the day. It still upsets me to be treated this way. My time is valuable and I do not deserve to have the situation twisted back on to me as if I did something wrong. Everything else was well done and professionally done. read more

I just went to my consultation and was charged $75 then told it was $8500 because my insurance does not cover the procedure. BEWARE the are not up front and honest. read more

I had my gastric surgery on 7/11/17. Right after the surgery there was no stomach restriction with my liquid diet. I didn't have any problems eating any thing. When I progressed to soft foods still no restriction. When I finally progressed to solid foods, I was able to eat whatever I wanted because there was no restriction. It had not impeded my appetite and actually has made it worse. I called around my 6 month check up and was told I would get checked to see if my pouch had stretched. I attended that appt and was told that I just might have that type of body that doesn't lose weight quickly. They did not check my pouch. Well it's almost a year and I have only lost 30-36 lbs. I am very disappointed because I feel as if I wasted my money and time. I follow the diet, get my protein and water in and no results. I have gastric reflux that has gotten worse and the doctor was supposed to repair the hernia. Last but not least I was not treated like they treated other patients. I was called the day before my surgery to change the time from the first surgery to the last. While in the waiting room another patient said his wife was called to move her time up. When I did finally get to surgery I was the last one in the recovery room. My time on the unit wasn't much better. My nurse never came and checked on me. She did not encourage me to walk and did not assist me on my first walk. I pretty much did everything I needed to do on my own. I did not get my compression stockings until I repeatedly asked over 6-7 times. I just didn't feel that the staff cared about my well being. read more

I had the gastric sleeve done in June 2016. Dr. Stower's and his staff were really awesome before my surgery and while I recovered in the hospital. However, I have had multiple flare ups of pancreatitis after my procedure. I have never had any problems with my pancreas until this surgery. I've been hospitalized three times since June, still vomiting continuously and having a lot of pain. I'm extremely frustrated with my last visit in Decatur. I saw Dr. Wright, who is Dr. Stower's partner, and he seemed to be frustrated with ME the patient, that i was feeling so poorly. I felt completely blown off and did not appreciate being talked to like I'm ignorant. He made me feel like I am an inconvenience. Not to mention, the nurse I had the last day I was in the hospital at Wise was extremely rude to me. I live in Abilene, and couldn't wait to come home so I could be out of that hospital! I received much better care from the doctors and nurses here in Abilene. read more